Archive for January, 2013

You may have heard on the news about Green Deal – a new scheme for funding a wide range of energy efficiency and renewable energy measures in order to encourage take up of these measures across the UK. Alongside the Green Deal there is the Energy Company Obligation, (ECO), which will be providing grant funding where market-driven measures won’t easily work.

Green Deal
The government launched the Green Deal in October 2012, and launched it again on Monday of this week as the finance for this scheme is now officially available. The Green Deal is a loan for one or many measures where the cost of the loan repayment is LESS THAN the amount of money saved on the energy bills, so not only is there no up front cost, there should be no ongoing costs. Furthermore, this loan is linked to the property not the person, so when someone sells their home, the new owner will take on the residue of the loan as they will also be receiving the benefits of the measures installed.

The process for arranging a Green Deal loan is new, and doubtless there will be a few teething problems. It starts with arranging for a Green Deal Assessment, which is carried out by either a Greed Deal Assessor or by a chartered surveyor or by someone whose assessment is reviewed and signed off by a chartered surveyor. This assessment looks at the energy demand of the property, and at the heating system, and at how the property is used. All properties currently have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which was produced by a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA). A Green Deal Assessment is mostly the same but with some extra bits tagged on. To help provide customer confidence, Green Deal Assessors must be accredited. The report produced as a result of the assessment will identify a range of possible measures that could help improve the energy efficiency of the property and/or could provide renewable energy generation. The sum of money saved from implementing all of these measures over their individual lifetimes must work out less than the loan repayments for them to be eligible for the Green Deal loan.

The customer can take the Green Deal Assessment Report and go to ANY Green Deal Provider in order to continue. It is a bit like taking your prescription from your optician to any store to buy frames/lenses.
A Green Deal Provider will look at the Green Deal Assessment Report and discuss with the customer what their options are. The customer may not want to progress all of it or may also want extra bits done that wouldn’t be covered by the Green Deal. The Green Deal Provider will have access to a source of Green Deal funding, although approval is subject to a credit check. A Green Deal Plan for implementing one or a number of measures is then developed and agreed by both parties with a suitable cooling off period.

The Green Deal Provider will arrange for the measures to be installed. Once the installation is complete, then the loan repayments will be added to the electricity bill for the customer. (The reason it is added to the electricity bill is that not everyone is on gas.)

More information on the Green Deal can be found on the DEAC website including a PDF we have produced: www.deac.co.uk/Green-deal

ECO
ECO grant funding replaces the old CERT grants, and is supposed to be available now, but some of the details may still require clarification by Ofgem. Ofgem has provided each of the big energy suppliers with targets to reach for funding energy efficiency projects for vulnerable people, and for people in particular areas, and for people with particularly hard to treat homes. The funding can be applied for directly to the supplier, through a broker, or for Green Deal Providers, through a new online auctioning system.

ECO is divided into 3 funding streams:

1. Carbon Saving Communities Obligation (CSCO)
This provides insulation measures to households in specified areas of low income. It also makes sure that 15% of each supplier’s obligation is used to upgrade more hard-to-reach low-income households in rural areas.

2. Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO – formerly Affordable Warmth Obligation)
This provides heating and insulation measures to consumers living in private tenure properties that receive particular means-tested benefits. This obligation supports low-income consumers that are vulnerable to the impact of living in cold homes, including the elderly, disabled and families.

Here’s something I thought you might find interesting – an American designed self-build Electric Car – it looks like fun!

The ETA writes:

“Engineer Gary Krysztopik is hoping his design for an easy-to-assemble, three-wheel, all-electric kit car will encourage his fellow Americans to make the switch to battery-powered motoring.

The EZ-EV (‘easy electric vehicle’) project is a 680 kg street-legal trike that can be assembled in one week by one person with basic tools. Expert DIYers can buy open source plans and build the three-wheeled car from scratch.”

The Centre of Sustainable Energy have launched a new resource ‘PlanLoCaL: energy efficiency and community Green Deal’ which is now available on their new PlanLoCaL website to coincide with the national launch of the Green Deal!

PlanLoCaL is a suite of resources and films to help communities plan for Low Carbon Living. This new pack includes information sheets, case studies, templates and tools. It provides lots of guidance on some tricky and complicated issues so that you don’t have to start from scratch. The aim is to help community groups to make the most out of the Green Deal and gain a better understanding of how to set up and run successful community-led energy efficiency projects in their local area.

Here’s their new video to spread the word about how communities can benefit from energy efficiency programms under the Green Deal:

Development of the resource was supported by a grant from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and draws on the collective knowledge and experience of staff at the Centre for Sustainable Energy. They have tried to address all of the questions and comments that have been fed in by community groups across the country to make the resource as useful as possible. They’ll also be producing a printed version of the resource in the near future.

Last weekend was spent gaining a direct insight into the rather polarizing and fractious debate around Wind Turbines in Swanage and Tolpuddle [at the WindFarm Meeting on Saturday 12th January 2013 at the Tolpuddle Village Hall].

It started with a question and answer session at a well attended meeting headed by the ever articulate and lucid Oliver Letwin in Tolpuddle Village Hall on Saturday; followed by a rather bracing Sunday morning on Swanage sea front. Although both events had their energies originating from the ‘anti’ side of the spectrum, both had their supporters, with Swanage in particular seeing a well organised ‘pro’ counter demonstration, challenging the challengers by their own event title.

The Tolpuddle event, organised in part by Tolpuddle Against INdustrial Turbines (TAINT) was not as hostile as one might have assumed, thanks in part to Oliver Letwins ability to hold the views of the agitated protesters in his well organised tones. Perhaps it was also due to the rather early start (9.30am) although the hall was completely packed. He did come down on the side of opposition to the application, on the principle of scale, which some might think to be a rather clever ploy as he did highlight his general support for Wind Power as part of a future energy mix, including Nuclear of which he is a supporter. My interpretation was that he left room for the proposals to be scaled down to be more acceptable to the Dorset Landscape, a view which I am a little sympathetic view since seeing a presentation by land rights campaigner Alistair McIntosh (no relation) who asked some difficult questions of the environment movement as to the impact of very large turbines on the Scottish landscape.

The meeting benefited, although the majority of attendees might disagree, with the presence of Ampair chief executive David Sharman. Ampair, based in Milborne St Andrew of all places, is the UKs oldest Wind Turbine manufacturer. David also has a local connection and no ‘declaration of interest’ apart from a rather tenuous one suggested by a member of the audience that he would benefit from the overall market benefit to his product. An interesting exchange was had between Mr Sharman and Letwin, in particular Letwin being asked to declare his overall support for Wind as part of the mix, as detailed in the recent 2020 Conservative report which is suggesting future policy approaches to a Conservative Government post 2015. Also more importantly he pulled out Letwins personal view that their should be a form of national guidance as to what are the most suitable, or rather what are the most unsuitable, sites for Wind Turbines in the UK. He stated at the moment this was his personal view, but in a few months time this might become a Cabinet view. This raises a potentially interesting dichotomy which Mr Sharman pressed him about, a central planning type approach would go against the the broad thrust of a market driven planning system and the policy of localism, mainstays of current Coalition policy. Letwin seemed convinced that the current planning system rules, at any rate, would be able to reject the application on valid grounds. I suspect he has had discussions with the local authority, as he delivered this statement with some weight.

Letwin also reiterated his faith that the increasing flexibility of the Grid to respond to intermittent sources of energy such as Wind (typically called the Smart Grid) including using electric cars as ‘storage batteries’ would mitigate concerns over efficiencies of renewables. Although some might disagree with his politics Letwin does read around enough to formulate his own views and reasoned arguments. I asked a question concerning community ownership and perhaps the community could take up the responsibility for generating as much energy as they can locally, which Letwin deftly took up using the example of community owned shops. Their was no mutterings that I could hear against this type of proposal, but neither was their rampant enthusiasm. I was left thinking that if only this kind of enthusiasm, energy and action could be harnessed to work on solutions, rather than simply a blanket ‘No’, then we might have a better future.

The demonstration in Swanage was a more heartening affair for me, with the reassuring prescence of well prepared counter-protesters from the local Greenpeace and Transition Town groups and other enthusiastic activists. I think it as fair to say that the originators of the ‘anti’ protest were somewhat bemused to have such a vocal repost, myself and a friend had several interesting and reasoned conversations with our opposite numbers and there was some press coverage although with the authority of being the originators of the event, the ‘anti’ group tended to get the top paragraph quotes and headline, although the Guardian of course was a bit more sympathetic.

The overall musing from both events was again somewhat astonishment at the sheer voracity of some of the opposition, and how it links to, imperceptibly at times, frustrations over power and ownership of land (Crown Estate and private landowners), subsidisation arguments (despite greater subsidies elsewhere in the energy market) and despite the obvious effects of the industrialised agricultural system over the last 100 years, aesthetic concerns over the landscape. You cannot help thinking that their is a psychological component buried deep underneath all this. Which indeed puzzles me still further, as those who have gained the most in the relatively cheap fossil fuel energy, post war economy, tend to be of the generation who make up the bulk of the ‘anti’ protesters…. surely a few dots on the horizon is a small price to pay so that those since born have the same?

vince adams comments:
"I have just read some of the comments on the website and I am sorry that we just don’t appear to be making any headway with education about wind turbines.
Please Mary worry not your relatives with autistic children will not hear the turbines from nearly a kilometre away, indeed the children may even love the sight of the new Windmills. Not so long ago almost every major Town in England had windmills really close to their centres, why… because that was were they milled the corn. It was food from wind and now its energy from wind.
Dear Mr Carmichael none of your points are valid. The CO2 emmisions are zero and the payback of carbon in production takes an average of 18/24 months. Compare that with Power Stations and oh by the way how many years and where will Nuclear Fuel go.
The old chestnut about not creating on-going good energy is nonsense… why do you think the World is investing in them when you say its so inefficient, maybe you have to ask yourself some questions before making statements to rubbish this wonderful new clean free energy!!!
Yours in the hope we can slowly but surely change your thinking by giving proper, true responses to your comments.
Finally Bill I have some sympathy with your comments. Good people and true have been fed fairy tales that they believe to be true, now is the time to help to breakdown these ridiculous barriers and realise that we are all in the same boat.
"
February 8, 2013 a 6:44 pm

Anna Celeste Watson comments:
"We must take everyone’s views into consideration but I do get a bit disappointed to hear the same old arguments over and over on every post about windpower, as they do sometimes seem perhaps a little narrow minded and selfish. I do agree with B M Carmichael though that windpower is just one option and there are no goodies or baddies here, but I would love to see the same people who hate wind turbines show their passion in a more positive way (or at least readdress the balance of their protest) to engage with and promote all the other more accessible forms of renewable energy that are less emotive, and of course took more steps to save energy in the first place : )
"
February 7, 2013 a 12:54 pm

B M Carmichael comments:
"the tragedy is this, it is easy to decide that people who are anti windfarms are anti renewable energy, may be it gives comfort to those who accept wind power blindly as the solution, you will find if you really bothered to, that in fact most people who are anti windfarms are pro renewable energy, they are just against windfarms and other inefficient and damaging renewables. windfarms currently globally cause CO2 to be produced, because they make the power station cycle in power, because wind energy is so intermittent and unreliable. There are many reasons why people do not favour windfarms, there is so much information out there to find out why, but dont be lazy, and self satisfied, dont just think that people who are anti windfarms are out of the ark, they may well be better informed than you, and that is why they have chosen to feel as they do about windfarms. Sorry if this offends. Just think, and question why? It is not as simple as you would like it to be, have a real challenge try and find out why!
"
February 7, 2013 a 12:46 pm

mary comments:
"your small dots on the horizon are less than 900 metres from my relatives home, they have children who are severely autistic who are hyper sensitve to sound, one of whom also suffers from epilepsy. Do you wonder why they might be amongst those desperately unhappy at the thought of having the wind farm so near to them. A child who is severely autistic and has severely challenging behaviour as well has enough to cope with, the World is a baffling place for them, and sometimes a very cruel one.
"
February 7, 2013 a 12:22 pm

Bill comments:
"Ampair chap did not indear himself when he said that the anti windies were all incomers, that rather disgraced anything he further said! Not a clever move! Perhaps it would make more sense in the first place if windfarms were put in places that were the least sensitive and less likely to cause protest, build them away from peoples homes, away from coastal areas that depend on tourism to make their bread and butter, remember Dorsets average wage is less than the national average to start off with we can’t afford to shoot ourselves in the foot can we! To have a strategic Government plan that works out the best places where to put the windfarms in the first place would probably have saved alot of grief and upset. I think you are not on the right track about the psyche regarding the antis though, I know of people who have probably been greenpeace members than some of us have been alive, who have probably been pro renewables likewise, and they are immensely worried by the windfarms impacting on humans, because it lessens the popularity of wind farms in the first place, making people anti. It would be sensible to try and make people happy in the first place would nt it!
"
February 7, 2013 a 12:11 pm

Vince Adams comments:
"Paul what a great report. What really strikes me is that if the protestors could only take your attitude and talk things out, come to a consensus, the World be be such a better place.
Thanks for your blog, I am looking forward to the next round and will try to be there. My last walk was as a student marching from Aldermaston to London – people can still make a difference.
"
January 23, 2013 a 2:20 pm

Join the FJ Chalke team at A.P. Chant’s Centre of Renewable Energy, The Core, Bridport Dorset, on Saturday 26th January to learn all about the 100% electric Nissan LEAF.

Arrive at 10am ready for a Presentation at 10.30am.

After the presentation you will then have the opportunity to drive a Nissan LEAF (so don’t forget your driving licence) and you will also get the chance to explore A.P. Chants renewable energy centre The Core, and have a look at rainwater harvesting, solar panels, biomass boilers and lots more.

If you would like to join us please RSVP to me, Sharon Fay, at FJ Chalke 01963 34335 or email sharon.fay@fjchalke.co.uk (Places are limited so book early!).

We would like to invite you to this fantastic new Renewable Energy Exhibition which has been planned to show off the latest technology from established local sources who will be on hand to advise and enthuse local people with the opportunities that exist for installing the right kind of equipment for your needs to save money, stay warmer, and help our countries’ CO2 emission targets for future generations.

Exhibitors include:

Ace Energy Solar

Bioheat Gillingham Wood burning energy

Nissan LEAF 100% Electric Cars

Carelec LED lighting and Edmundsons the Electrical Wholesalers

DEAC Energy Conservation

Green Deal

Tim Purbrick Specialist in major solar farm projects

NDDC Planning Representative from the local planning committee

Energize Stur Valley Local Energy Group

Dorset Energized

DEAC (Dorset Energy Advice Centre) will be demonstrating how to help people out of fuel poverty and advising on grants and supports that can be obtained here in Dorset.

The representative from NDDC will answer queries relating to planning laws.

For those interested in Electric Transport their will be the opportunity to test drive the newNissan LEAF 100% electric car.

For visitors with specific questions about any related subjects there will be an on-going Forum where a panel of professionals will be on hand to answer them.

Admission is FREE and the Exchange has an excellent Cafe where refreshments will be available throughout the morning.

I read an article on a prototype hydrogen-powered car developed by BMW. It used a modified diesel engine to run on hydrogen produced by passing an electric current through seawater. The electric current was created by a solar photovoltaic panel, and it broke the H2O molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. When the hydrogen was burned in the engine, it recombined with oxygen in the air to produce steam – the only emission. What a marvellous breakthrough in technology, a portable fuel that is entirely clean and renewable!

This particular article appeared in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, about twenty years ago now. There were technical issues around storing and refuelling the hydrogen, but why were they never solved? What happened to this amazing prototype?

Also in the same journal, around the same time, appeared a cartoon. It depicted a meeting of large, wealthy-looking gentlemen, in Arab dress, although nowadays they would probably be Russian. They were saying, ‘We have lots of oil, oil is good. Gas? We control the gas, gas is good. What about nuclear? We control the uranium supply, nuclear energy is an excellent idea. Solar power? We control … it’ll never work!’

And there we have it in a nutshell. Instead of developing hydrogen power, we have stuck with petrol and diesel. Instead of being offered clean solar, wind and hydro power, we are having a ‘dash for gas’, nuclear and fracking pushed onto us.

Fracking is a particularly good example of how the fixation of those in power with fossil fuels produces bizarre ‘solutions’ to the energy problem. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, has come about because remaining gas reserves are in ever smaller pockets rather than in the huge reservoirs of old, or in rocks that are not porous enough for gas to flow through them and accumulate.

Fracking involves injecting a fluid, a slurry of water and chemical additives, at very high pressure, into cracks in the rock to extend them and open them up to release gas, along with sand or something similar to hold the cracks open. Despite the usual condescending assurances from the industry that it is ‘quite safe’ and that experts are fully in control, fracking has a couple of major problems that make it an unpredictable process. The first is that the chemical fracking fluid can escape along cracks – sometimes a very large proportion of it has been lost, with little control or prediction on where it will go. It can end up in the groundwater, and pollute drinking water far into the future. It may contain salt, hydrochloric acid, ethylene glycol, disinfectant, isopropanol or other chemicals, or even radioactive elements flushed out of the rock. The second problem is that the liberation of the gas cannot be entirely controlled either, and it may escape, not along the intended cracks, but in an unpredictable way, causing air pollution and explosion risk. Fracking has also caused small earthquakes in the USA.

While fracking has mostly been carried out in the USA, applications are beginning to be made here, including one in the Mendips (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-13748284), and the fossil fuel lobby is applying pressure to the government. What makes it a really crazy idea is that methane could be produced far more efficiently using waste or specifically grown crops, using anaerobic digestion. If we want the government to adopt sensible, long-term policies concerning energy, we are going to have to make our voices heard. Fracking is not some distant threat, but coming soon to an area near you, so be prepared to protest!

For more information on fracking visit the ‘Dangers of Fracking’ website on http://dangersoffracking.comwhich clearly and visually explains what goes in and out of Hydraulic Fracturing (also known as ‘fracking’).

It’s a little short notice but we have just been informed that there will be a public meeting taking place TOMORROW morning in Tolpuddle regarding the latest windfarm proposal in West Dorset.

It will include attendance by the Right Hon Oliver Letwin MP.

We are led to believe that an anti-wind farm group have called the meeting, so in the interests of a more balanced discussion, we simply wish to notify you of this public meeting in the hope that some pro-renewable, pro-climate change action persons might be interested in attending – this is the chance to have your say!

Dorset residents and communities are invited to a meeting to set up a local coalition of groups and individuals opposed to hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on Tuesday 15th January at the United Church in Dorchester (entrance in the shadows of the infamous new council offices). Please let me know if you will be coming so that I can keep an eye on numbers in case we need a larger room. You contact me via da21 at paul@da21.org.uk.

Myself and everyone at Dorset Energized would like to say: Very Happy New Year!

Join the Green Energy Revolution
After all the Christmas festivities, and dare I say with the current economic climate, at this time of year we all need to tighten our belts, keep warm, oh yes, and make those new year resolutions! So here’s a simple idea for you that could snowball into a green energy revolution…

Whether you are an individual, household, business or part of a community, take 1 step TODAY to:

Like many people, money is very tight for me at the moment and I am not a homeowner myself so cannot invest in most renewable energy technologies, but I do care deeply about the Earth, and all the people and animals who live here, so I want to play my part. Every individual can make a difference. You can choose to ignore the fact that we all need to save energy and invest in renewables, or pretend your actions don’t count, or you can choose to take positive action – however small – and you never know you may even save some money, right now!

Here’s some more options for keeping warm, and saving energy and money this Winter:

Wood Energy
Why not take advantage of the new year sales to check out your local heat energy showrooms to choose a more energy efficient woodburning stove (often referred to as Biomass Boliers). Wood stoves are becoming an increasingly popular choice not just for providing a focal point to a room, allowing you to gaze into the flames, but also for providing cheap hot water for central heating and domestic hot water for the whole home. Plus don’t miss out on getting £950 back in the form of a voucher when you install a Biomass Boiler, with The Renewable Heat Premium.
For more information go to: www.letsgetenergized.co.uk/energy/wood-energy

Heat PumpsTake advantage of The Renewable Heat Premium until March 2013, with a money-back scheme to get either a £850 voucher when you install an Air Source Heat Pump, or £1,250 for a Ground Source or Water Source Heat Pump. Heat pumps extract the warmth from solar energy which is stored in the ground, water courses and in the air. The systems use electricity to drive a pump which extracts the warmth and upgrades it into useful heat. Fridges are heat pumps and work by the same principal but in reverse, moving heat from inside the fridge to outside, thus cooling the inside.
For more information go to: www.letsgetenergized.co.uk/energy/heat-pumps

Combined Heat & Power
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is a technology that can replace your standard boiler for your heating system, but also integrates the production of electricity, in one single, highly efficient process making it a low carbon technology. A domestic CHP unit can reduce yearly fuel bills by up to £600 and cut household carbon emissions by up to 40%.
For more information go to: www.letsgetenergized.co.uk/energy/combined-heat-power

Our Hopes for 2013
In 2013 we hope to develop the Dorset Energized website and inspire even more people to connect with renewable energy and reduce their energy demand. We want to recommend even more friendly and trusted local experts in renewable energy. And we want to bring you even more fantastic energy and money saving offers to help you take the next step to becoming part of the green energy revolution!

We also want this to be YOUR website – so please do send us your comments for taking positive action on energy via our blog, and we want to hear YOUR stories on your experiences with renewable energy, saving energy, and sustainable living – to help inspire others.

Lets Get Energized with Renewable Energy!

Lets Get Energized is your online guide to renewable energy and sustainable living with the latest news, views and tips plus exclusive special offers to help you save energy and money, beat rising energy prices, combat climate change and be more self sufficient – right now, and for your future...